


Out of Place

by ollipop



Category: Mathematics (Anthropomorphic)
Genre: Children's Stories, Gen, even vs. odd, prime numbers, schoolyard
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-02-11
Updated: 2013-02-11
Packaged: 2017-11-28 22:30:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 580
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/679579
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ollipop/pseuds/ollipop
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Two doesn't like odd numbers.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Out of Place

**Author's Note:**

> This is a bedtime story I improvised for my kiddo, who is grade-school age, just starting to enjoy numbers, and obviously inherited some of my mathematical tics. Unbeta'd and totally off the cuff. Inspired by "You Can Count on Monsters," which is this week's favorite book.

Once upon a time there was a very special number called Two. There were many lovely things about Two: she was even tempered, had excellent balance, and she was small enough to fit nicely into all sorts of things. Two was rather young and she liked school. Her favorite part was spending time with all the bigger numbers.

One day in school, all the numbers were lined up outside for math class, and the math coach came by with his whistle and clipboard. He waved them up to a big white line on the ground and said, "Listen up, everybody. We're going to play a game today. Prime numbers, huddle up on this side of the line; composite numbers on the far side of the line."

Two hadn't ever paid much attention in math practice and she didn't know what game they were getting ready to play. She saw all the numbers scatter, settle on either side of the line, and begin stretching and twisting to get ready for the math game. She scampered off to follow her friends Four, Eight, and Ten and get their advice. But just as she crossed over, she heard a shrill whistle and the coach's voice.

"TWO!" he bellowed. "What are you doing? Get back over here with the primes!"

Startled, Two hurried back over to the other side of the line. She looked around on the prime side for some of her friends, but she didn't see a single one of them. This side was much emptier than the other, and full of weird numbers... Seven, Eleven, and even Nineteen. Two shuddered. She drifted back until she could see the entire group. Then she realized: _there wasn't a single even number in the group._ Not one. Two began to break out in a sweat.

  
Five came over just then and leaned towards Two. "Hi, Two," she said. "You seem like you're a little uncomfortable over here. Everything okay?"

  
Two burst into tears. "I don't belong over here! I'm an even number! I don't want to be prime!"

  
"You _are_ an even number, and you're also prime. That's just who you are. You and me and Three, we do a big job over here. We can climb on top of all these composite numbers, you'll see."

  
"But I don't even know what we're playing, and those are my friends! Someone has got it wrong. There's got to be someone else like me over here. Or else I belong over there."

Five grinned. "Nope, no one got it wrong. You are totally unique. You can spend all day with the even numbers, doubled up as far as the eye can see. Or you can come over here and swing from the tops of the trees with us. Don't you get it? You belong with them _and_ with us. In different ways. But this team isn't complete without you."

  
And then Five pulled Two to the sideline and explained prime numbers and composite numbers to her, how each of them stood alone next to One and how they all jumped in to factor for the composites in different patterns and different powers. By the end of the discussion, Two was smiling hugely and ready to try her new tricks.

"Thanks, Five!" She did a little flip and wiggled her foot in the air so that she mirrored Five for a moment, then she popped right-side up and chortled. "I think I'm going to like it here."


End file.
